Hirosaki Medical Journal
Online ISSN : 2434-4656
Print ISSN : 0439-1721
Volume 71, Issue 2-4
Displaying 1-6 of 6 articles from this issue
Original Article
  • Zaiqiang Yu, Xu Liu, Kazuyuki Daitoku, Ken-Ichi Furukawa, Ikuo Fukuda, ...
    2021 Volume 71 Issue 2-4 Pages 101-107
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: March 15, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Background
    Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) is the most common heart valve disease in elderly society. The effective treatment for AVS is surgical aortic valve replacement but with extremely invasive. Although transcatheter aortic valve replacement also is performed for highly risk patients with minimally invasive, it has to resolve the problem of bioprosthetic valve durability in future. However, there is no effective medical treatment established for AVS to inhibit acceleration of aortic valve calcification.
    Objectives
    We aimed to confirm whether the ascending aorta is the best location for AVS to innovate local and selective medical therapy or not.
    Methods and Results
    After anesthetized by isoflurane, the wild type rat was stablished on operating table. Opening chest to heart by median sternotomy approach, the catheter was inserted into left ventricular from apical for body perfusion. We injected saturated solution of amido black 10B (AB) into ascending aorta above sino-tubular junction about 0.5 cm from aortic valves without aortic dissection observed, and body perfusion was performed by saline containing heparin in order to prevent embolism happened in vascular. After 30 minutes, the heart with the ascending aorta was extracted. We used optical microscope to check the existence of AB at around of aortic valves or not. Interestingly, AB was detected at around of aortic valves and valsalva sinus of the aorta and myocardium in all rats.
    Conclusions
    These results suggested that AB injected is delivered from the ascending aorta to aortic valves through vasa vasorum. These data provide very important evidences for local medical therapy development for AVS patients.
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  • Hiromi Machino, Osamu Nomura, Kanichiro Wada, Gentaro Kumagai, Sunao T ...
    2021 Volume 71 Issue 2-4 Pages 108-112
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: March 15, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Purpose: Cervical spinal cord injuries( SCI) associated with apple farming are frequently experienced in trauma care in the Tsugaru region. The aim of this study was to clarify the cause of injury and the clinical characteristics in SCI patients injured during apple farming.
    Methods: Cases of SCI related to apple farming were investigated from January 2015 to August 2019 at Hirosaki University Hospital. The patients' characteristics, month and cause of injury, neurological severity, and prognosis were extracted from the medical records.
    Results: Nine of the ten identified cases were male, and most of the events occurred in May and June( 7 cases). The injuries were classified into two categories: those related to riding mower operation( 5 cases) and falling from ladders and other high places( 5 cases). On the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale( AIS) at discharge, A, B, C, D, and E were 1, 2, 3, and 2, respectively.
    Conclusion: This case series study has revealed the typical time and cause of injury in SCI associated with apple farming. Severe cases were also observed, and it is urgent to establish preventive measures.
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  • Shu Ogasawara, Norihiro Saito, Satoko Minakawa, Tomomi Akasaki, Hiroyu ...
    2021 Volume 71 Issue 2-4 Pages 113-119
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: March 15, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Background: The Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) is expressed on RBCs and is a non-signaling receptor for multiple chemokines. In the previous study, we had shown that DARC-affinity chemokines are stored in the RBCs. However, the fate of intracellularly stored chemokines has yet to be investigated. This study investigated whether RBCs retain the ability to accumulate these chemokines as they age.
    Methods: Peripheral blood from five healthy volunteers were collected, and then transferred to hematocrit capillary tubes. After centrifugation, the RBC layer was divided to compare the top, upper, middle and bottom fractions. HbA1c, eotaxin-1 and RANTES were measured in each fraction.
    Results: HbA1c increased significantly from the top fraction to the bottom fraction. Eotaxin-1 decreased significantly from the top fraction to the bottom fraction. RANTES exhibited a similar decrease, although no significant differences were observed. Eotaxin-1 showed a negative correlation( r = -0.51, p = 0.03) with HbA1c. Although not statistically significant, RANTES showed a decreasing tendency (r = -0.40, p = 0.08) with the increase of HbA1c levels. These results indicate that RANTES and eotaxin-1 decrease rather than increase with RBC aging.
    Conclusion: Eotaxin-1 and RANTES stored in RBCs tended to decrease as RBCs age.
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  • Anna Takabayashi-Ebina, Minako Yokoyama, Kayo Horie, Yoshihito Yokoyam ...
    2021 Volume 71 Issue 2-4 Pages 120-130
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: March 15, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
        We previously reported that a human carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) DNA-dendrimer complex could potentially be used in gene therapy for peritoneal metastasis of ovarian cancer. The aims of the current study were to make exosomes which overexpressed CBR1 and to examine the antiproliferative effect of using the CBR1- overexpressing exosomes on ovarian cancer cells. Endometrial stromal cells (fibroblasts) were transfected with CBR1 DNA by using Lipofectamine, the highest expression level of CBR1 was produced from the cells transfected under the condition of Lipofectamin 24 μl/DNA 36 μg for 48 h. Exosomes were purified from culture supernatants by exoEasy Maxi Kit. Western blot showed that CBR1 notably expressed in exosomes extracted from the stromal cells transfected with CBR1 DNA. Proliferation of ovarian cancer cell line was significantly inhibited by adding CBR1- overexpressing exosomes compared to proliferation of those cells in which exosomes without CBR1 DNA were added. We obtained the evidence that CBR1-overexpressing exosomes could function in carrying CBR1 DNA into ovarian cancer cells. Results suggested that exosomes are a useful tool of gene delivery and that a gene therapy of combining CBR1 DNA and exosomes may be promoted in the treatment of advanced and recurrent ovarian cancers with peritoneal dissemination.
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  • Keiichiro Iida, Shigeyuki Nakaji, Makoto Mikami, Katsunori Yokoi, Yuri ...
    2021 Volume 71 Issue 2-4 Pages 131-137
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: March 15, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
      Background: Ptosis is caused mainly by age-related degeneration of the aponeurosis caused by lifestyle-related diseases. Some patients with ptosis complain of stiff shoulders and headaches. There have been few actual epidemiological investigations of aponeurotic ptosis and these symptoms. We aimed to find their prevalence and associated characteristics of ptosis in Japanese general population.
      Methods: The target population consisted of 1004 volunteers who took part in the 2016 Iwaki Health Promotion Project. We administered a questionnaire, took blood samples, took physical measurements, and measured marginal reflex distance( MRD-1) in each participant. The relationship between survey items( age, gender, difficulty in raising eyelids, headache, stiff shoulders, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and body mass index[ BMI]) and eyelid droop was examined statistically.
      Results: The prevalence of ptosis in this study was 15.4%. Ptosis prevalence correlated with elderly people 65 years or older (odds ratio. 3.07, 95% CI: 2.02–4.66), male sex (odds ratio. 0.29, 95% CI: 0.20–0.43), hypertension (odds ratio. 1.68, 95% CI: 1.11–2.54) and dyslipidemia( odds ratio. 1.51, 95% CI: 1.02–2.23).
      Conclusions: The present results suggested that hypertension, dyslipidemia and male sex were thought to be the risk factors of aponeurotic ptosis in Japanese general population.
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  • Reiko Kudo, Yuki Mikuniya, Kazutaka Yamauchi, Nami Shimizume, Naomi Ku ...
    2021 Volume 71 Issue 2-4 Pages 138-145
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: March 15, 2021
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objective: The incidence of dementia is increasing in developed countries, and early detection and treatment are important. Considering that olfactory disorders are correlated with cognitive dysfunction, olfactory testing might be a useful screening tool for dementia. In the present study, we investigated whether a simple olfactory test could predict the short-term progression of cognitive decline using data from a longitudinal study of a community-dwelling population.
    Subjects and Methods: Subjects were participants of the Iwaki Health Promotion Project, a community-based program aimed at improving average life expectancy. The subjects were examined using a 4-item modified Pocket Smell Test (mPST) and the Mini-Mental State Examination( MMSE) in 2016 and 2017. The relationship between the change in MMSE scores and olfactory identification ability in 2016 was analyzed in subjects with good MMSE scores in 2016.
    Results: Among participants in their 60s and 70s, the olfactory-impaired group showed significantly lower MMSE scores in 2017 than those of the good-olfaction group.
    Conclusion: Olfactory testing may be a tool for early detection of the onset of cognitive decline in elderly people.
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